Fall in Love with these Fall rituals!
Happy Fall!
We love fall, as the warmth of summer fades into cool evenings, where wood smoke lingers in the air and the leaves change from green to orange, red and yellow. Fall is a season of transition and it’s a great time to celebrate and to give thanks. As we move from the the warmth and long days of summer to shorter, cooler days of winter, fall gives us a moment of pause to celebrate the bounties of summer and to prepare ourselves for the cooler months ahead.
In many cultures around the world, fall is a time of celebration and a time to induce change.
Here are a few things you can do celebrate the fall season:
Create a harvest mantel:Pagan’s use fall as a time to connect with Gaia, earth mother, to celebrate her bounty. Not only can you use your harvest mantel as a way to give thanks but you can also use it as a means to channel what you would like to ‘harvest’ in the future.
Gather a variety of fall produce like dried wheat and/or Indian corn, pumpkins, apples, nuts. Then add some fall colored candles. Including a variety of different sizes and shapes adds visual interest to your mantel. Then add honey and cinnamon if you desire love, coins for prosperity, spices for strength, basil for clarity. Let the altar be a physical reminder of all that you will harvest in the season to come.
Go on a cleanse: The Native Americans use fall’s transition as a time to cleanse their bodies. Take this time to nourish yourself and to prepare yourself for winter. Try to eat primarily fruits, vegetables, beans, grains, nuts and seeds. As well, go outside on walks to celebrate the transition from summer to winter. Falls change from hot to cold, awake to asleep, is a great time to move toxins out of our system. Adding milk thistle and cascara sagrada also helps with the elimination of toxins.
Preform a forgiveness ritual: Fill a bowl with water, adding a pinch of salt for anyone you want to forgive (especially yourself!) for any mistakes that you or they have made consciously or unconsciously by words, deeds, or actions. Sit quietly and center yourself, imagining the misdeeds dissolving like salt in the water.
Visit an apple orchard or pumpkin farm. Going to an apple orchard or a pumpkin farm is a fun way to celebrate fall’s bounty. This type of outing allows us to connect with Mother Earth and appreciate all that she’s provided. As well, it’s just plan fun to go find that perfect pumpkin for carving, going on a hayride or gathering a bushel of apples to enjoy for the upcoming month. It’s also a great excuse to get outside and enjoy time with family and friends.
Change a habit: What better time to change a habit then fall, when things around you are already changing. The best way to change a habit is to identify what it is you want to change, then observe what’s going on when the action (habit) occurs. Then, to effectively change a habit, a new ritual needs to be put into place. Craft a new habit by adding some type of positive reward for the new behavior. Before fall welcomes winter, you will have created an new habit.